Red Cross Apologizes For 'Super Racist' Pool Safety Poster
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The American Red Cross has issued an apology over a poster that many deemed racist.
The poster depicts cartoon children in a pool committing various safety "do's and dont's."
There are red arrows pointing to children exhibiting "not cool" behavior, while green arrows point to kids exhibiting "cool" behavior. Most of the "not cool" kids happen to be black, while the "cool" kids happen to be white.
On June 20, a man with the twitter handle John Sawyer called out the Red Cross for the poster that is at the Salida Pool and Recreation Department in Salida, Colorado. He tweeted and told them to send a new poster because it was "super racist."
The tweet generated tons of responses with some agreeing it was racist, while others not so much.
The next day, the Red Cross replied to his tweet and thanked him for bringing the poster to their attention.
The organization later issued an apology on its website saying, "We deeply apologize for any misunderstanding, as it was absolutely not our intent to offend anyone. As one of the nation's oldest and largest humanitarian organizations, we are committed to diversity and inclusion in all that we do, every day."
The poster was originally part of the organization's "Aquatics Centennial Campaign," in 2014 CNN reported.
